One of South Korea’s biggest scandals is Burning Sun, which was notorious for the K-Pop stars involved. One of those stars is former CNBLUE (씨엔블루) guitarist and vocalist Lee Jonghyun (이종현), who recently returned to the public eye after nearly a decade.

Earlier this week, Jonghyun surprised followers when he shared a post on his social media. As his last post was in 2018, the updates marked his return to the public eye after 8 years. In the post, the former CNBLUE member shared an update on his life after leaving his band, revealing that he now works in the beauty industry, specifically in marketing. The post also included photos of him at work and his current state.

In case you’re wondering, Jonghyun was a member of CNBLUE before leaving in 2019 following public backlash for his involvement in the Burning Sun scandal. The guitarist admitted to being in a one-to-one chatroom with Jung Joonyoung (정준영) where he received and viewed sexual hidden camera footage of the disgraced singer with his victims. Following another scandal where he sent inappropriate messages to a YouTuber, he left CNBLUE.

At the time of his departure, Jonghyun was in the midst of his military service. After his discharge from his military service in 2020, the former band member largely stayed out of the spotlight. Meanwhile, his former CNBLUE bandmates continued to perform and release new music as a trio. The band even performed in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year as part of their “3LOGY” world tour.

The public has since reacted to Jonghyun’s return to social media, expressing mixed feelings. Fans who had long waited for an update from the singer were unsurprisingly ecstatic, with many welcoming him back to the public eye. On the other hand, many netizens were still critical of him because of his past scandals. Some also called him thick-skinned for trying to rally support from his female fans after being caught making degrading comments about women.

It’s worth noting that Jonghyun didn’t mention any plans to return to showbiz, instead saying he wants to communicate as a regular citizen. However, given his past, it’s hard to tell whether the public will be open to his return. What are your thoughts on this?

Sources: Instagram, Twitter